5 Best Restaurants in Lake Tahoe, Nevada

The fare's as delectable as the setting is incongruous at the casual spot that Hawaii's "godfather of poke" opened inside a neon-lit 21st-century bowling alley replete with video poker; an arcade; pool tables; three bars; and a patio with firepits, cornhole, and bocce. The kinetic venue's a hoot, but the poke tacos and nachos and Sam Choy's signature Spam musabi—not to mention the burgers, salads, bowls, wraps, pizzas, and sandwiches—are seriously good.

This dependable if not fabulous Italian family restaurant serves a dozen pasta dishes, many pizzas, and chicken, veal, shrimp, and beef entrées. All dinners include soup or salad and garlic bread, making Azzara's a pretty good value.

The owners of this bright-and-chipper, health-oriented restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner aim to please all palates, from carnivore to vegan. The ingredients—grass-fed burger meat, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and a wide range of produce—are sourced as locally as possible.

A casual, plank-floored, all-natural deli serving breakfast and lunch, Mountain High may well be the only place in Tahoe to find coconut chia seed pudding and similar delicacies. More familiar fare—biscuits and gravy (sausage or veggie) for breakfast, house-smoked tri-tip sandwiches (also tofu barbecue) for lunch—is also on the menu.

The multilevel outdoor deck of this order-at-the-counter restaurant cradled in a hillside below the Ponderosa Ranch from TV's Bonanza entices weary East Shore hikers and bikers with filling fare fit for a ranch hand. Along with breakfast standards, there's a "power bowl" of eggs, avocado, cheese, and black beans—salads, sandwiches (including a tasty turkey club), and burgers appear for lunch.